You
could miss the entrance, if you aren't looking carefully.
There was a "Trail of Screams" sign on the utility
pole near the entrance, but that is only visible if you are
coming from the south. If you are coming from the North,
you can't see it because it is obscured by trees. They had
a backlit arrow sign near the road, to help increase visibility of the
entrance, but the night I visited it wasn't illuminated.
If you follow Mapquest directions, you should have no trouble
finding it.

Wait
Entertainment:

There
were a couple of actors scaring people waiting in line.
The Michael Myers character had a real metal machete that he
would scrape along the pavement to get people's attention.
There was also a character on stilts that reminded me of a
tall version of the monster from the movie "The
Village".

Admission
Price:

$11.00

Length:

33 Minutes *
*
= Since people move through haunted attractions at different
rates, your time will vary.

Scare
Factor:

Medium

Crowd
Control:

Since
this was a guided tour, crowd control was excellent at this
event. I never ran into any other groups.

Summary:

The Trail of Screams is
a combination indoor/outdoor event held at the YMCA Camp
Winnebago. There were several scenes inside camp buildings
that were separated by long, twisting, dark sections of nature trails. Walking
along the dark trails really set a spooky
mood for the scenes to come.

They had some pretty
creative scenes this season. One of my favorites was the
tomb, which was
a 10 foot deep trench, dug out of the ground. It's a really
creepy feeling to literally walk underground with dirt
walls on either side of you! One of the most intense scenes was the
"Prison of the Dead". Upon arrival, the warden
instructed everyone that they only had two minutes to escape or be incarcerated
forever. To "make a break for it", you had to make your way through
various rooms including a path of chain-link fencing with chains
hanging down in your face, a pitch black hallway and a room
where the floor drops out from under you.

The hospital was another
one of their scenes. Unfortunately they must have been
having technical difficulties, because there were no lights on, in
the entire scene. The "mad doctor" had to lead the patrons through with a
flashlight. That was a shame, as the lack of lighting made
it very difficult to see any of the props/detail in the scene. Even with the
lighting issues, the
scare at the end was effective, thanks to some good
improvisation by the actor in the scene.

One of their highly
detailed scenes was the crematorium. One area in the crematorium
featured stone walls, a body
impaled on spikes and assorted body parts hanging on the
opposite wall. Underneath the spikes was another body on a
table that had green goo pumping out of its chest. Another room had red brick walls and a hole
in the wall where you could see the remains of a body.

There was also a clown
scene that featured a couple of evil clowns tormenting a little girl.
Throughout the scene, there was a lot of glowing 3D art painted
on the walls. It was a great concept and the clowns were
intense. There was, however, an issue at the exit. It was a pretty high step
down
from the doorway to the ground. A ramp or illuminated step would have been
helpful here.

Our tour guide did a
great job of leading my group through the trail. She knew
her lines well and provided the patrons with the story line
that tied all of the scenes together. The tour guide was by
no means soft-spoken and she communicated clearly, but there was
still a time or two when I couldn't
hear everything that was said, because she wasn't facing the group
the entire time she was speaking. In general, all of the
actors knew their parts and followed through well, staying in
character the whole time. Some were more low-key, while
others (like the ones in the prison) were very energetic.

Overall, the Trail of
Screams group did a good job this season. I have always
enjoyed the trail's creative story line, as well as the natural
spookiness of the trail itself. This event really gives you a lot of bang for your
buck, providing more than 30 minutes of entertainment for
$11.